Charles Cadell (pictured) is clearly a man with an intrepid sense of adventure. Uninspired by offers to run regional agency networks in the year since he left Arc, where he was regional president, the Englishman has plumped for what is arguably the toughest brief in Asia for an expat CEO: India.
Over the last decade, the number of expats to take top jobs in India can be counted with the fingers of one hand. Andre Nair at GroupM and John Goodman at Ogilvy & Mather are the two most visible examples. Both have since moved on.
History provides little comfort for Cadell, the new CEO of Lowe. India’s longest-established agencies set up in the 1930s and were then run by expats. But in the 1970s, India’s economy shut itself off as the country turned inward, and the expats left. Only since the 1990s have they started to trickle back. Doug Baillie, a South African, is the first expat chairman of Unilever India since the 1950s.
Though CEO, some wonder what impact Cadell, and those who will follow him, can have on an agency and in a market dominated by formidable management talent.
“Charles is a brilliant orchestrator who has built great agencies. But I give him a year before he leaves,” says one Indian executive who has worked with Cadell.
“He has a chairman on top of him (Prem Mehta) and two powerful figures (newly-promoted chairman and chief creative officer-cum-Bollywood film director R Balakrishnan, and newly-promoted global director of marketing accountability, Pranesh Mishra) on either side. His hands are tied. He may do well, but only if he does what he’s told.”
Steve Gatfield, Lowe’s global CEO, insists that Cadell’s arrival marks the transformation of Lowe India into a global hub. “This isn’t a case of dropping one man in to run India. I know the animal I’ve hired. Charles is uniquely qualified. He has worked in Thailand, Hong Kong and Malaysia. He brings to India a regional perspective.”
The way of looking at India is changing, adds Gatfield. “India is becoming a global force - look at Mittal Steel. It is in the process of building multinationals that need to exist in mature markets. Charles joins a team whose horizons are rapidly expanding.”
Ashutosh Srivastava, who used to run MindShare India and is now the network’s Asia-Pacific CEO, says Gatfield’s strategy is spot-on. Like Goodman and Nair before him, however, Cadell joins a strong team and an agency in rude health. “In this sense, it’s a lower-risk job,” says Srivastava.
By contrast, David Blair, managing director of Fitch India, a design agency, started the business from scratch in February 2006. He offers Cadell and co some warning: “India is opening up, but it is not yet fully open. If you let it, India will destroy you in no time at all. Every step of the way you will get tripped up and people will move and shake around you.
“Companies here are patriarchal, territorial and navigating hierachy is crucial - one meeting with a top guy is worth 10 with the little guys.
“It can be hard to express yourself professionally. But if you truly embrace India, it could be the most rewarding experience of your career.”
Sam Balsara, chairman of Madison Media, says that Cadell won’t be the last expat to take on India. As salaries in India have increased, so expats have become relatively less expensive. Meanwhile, the promise of drivers, maids and other luxuries has made the prospect more attractive for foreigners.
But it won’t be easy, he concludes: “The trick is balance. How can you absorb the Indian environment and, at the same time, be an effective change agent in a market changing at breakneck speed?”
